James willis



J. WILLIS...

UMBRELLA AND PARASOL.

No. 17,600. Patented June 16, 1867.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES YVILLIS, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

UMBRELLA AND PARASOL.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 17,600, dated June 16, 185 7.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES VVILLIs, of the city of London, England, umbrella-maker, and a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Umbrellas and Parasols, and

- do hereby declare the same to be fully described, ascertained, and represented in the following statement thereof and the drawings accompanying the same, Wherein- Figure 1 is a side view of one of my improved umbrella or parasol frames; Fig. 2, a side view of its runner as it appears before reception of the confining wire of the spreaders; Fig. 3, a longitudinal section of said runner; Fig. {L is a sectional view (on an enlarged scale) of a portion of one of the metallic ribs and exhibits an enameled or glazed tip fixed therein as will be hereinafter described. Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the runner as it appears when its grooved flange is bent down upon the joint wire.

In Fig. 1, A is the cane or stick of the umbrella; B B B, &c., the ribs; C C C the spreaders; D the runner or tubular slider; E the top joint ri'ng or'collar.

In constructing the slider or runner or the top joint collar I make the flange shown at a or b in Fig. 1 of a ring of w1re separate from the tube or collar 0 or d and solder the two together. In making the ring I form it of wrought metal in the form of a tube or made solid as wire and grooved lengthwise and made in other respects of proper form so that when bent around in a ring it will serve for the flange to hold the confining wire of the slider or top ring as the case may be. Heretofore the notched parts of the top ring of a parasol or umbrella have been made by casting a flange solid on and with the tube and afterward grooving and notching such flange. Now cast metal is at all times brittle and liable to be broken. By making the notch ring of wrought metal by bending it into a ring separate from the tube and applying one to the other by soldering as described the notched parts are made tough and strong and of course can be made lighter than when cast metal has been used. The flange I form with a groove and space extending around within it as shown at c in Fig. 3, the space being large enough to receive the confining wire when passed laterally through the groove and into the said space. This confining wire should be a metallic or steel ring which may be formed as shown in the drawing (Fig. 5) and laid in the groove and space, it having previously been run through the eyes of the Spreaders. These spreaders with the wire may be ap plied simultaneously to the runner the Spreaders being inserted in their notched recesses g 9 formed in the runner in the usual way and at equal distances apart. After this the two opposite side lips or parts 00 as of the flange by which the ring is embraced are to be closed down upon one another, which may be done by means of pliers, so as to cover the ring or confining wire as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. The common mode of afiixing the confining wire in place is by forming the flange with a groove for the reception of the confining wire, laying the said wire therein and twisting its two ends around upon one another. Under this mode of securing the wire it is held in place only by the twists of its ends and in consequence thereof is liable to become easily detachedfrom the slider or the projecting twist and are liable to catch in the cloth or cover and tear the same. By my improved method of making the flange and applying the confining wirethat is by bending it over the said wire until the two lips of the flange are brought together-41m wire is so firmly held in its place as not to be liable to be broken so as to release the spreaders from their slider or runner. The same method of making the flange and fixing therein the holding wire may be applied to such parts of the top joint or collar shown in Fig. 1. This improvement though simple is one of great value in the manufacture and use of parasols and umbrellas as by it the spreaders and top joint as well as the ribs are protected against endwise draft or pressure to much better advantage than they are by the common method of fixing their joint wires or rings, that part of each joint wire on which a spreader or rib turns being confined in place by means independent of those which serve to confine in place such other portions of the wire. By my improvement it is next to impossible to disconnect the spreader from the slider or the ribs from the collar under ordinary usage of the umbrella so made.

The ribs being constructed of metal and with small heads formed or fixed thereto as seen at 2' in Fig. 4, may have tips of glass or enamel 7c glazed, cast or blown on said heads, so as to surround and cover the same the same serving to give a suitable finish to such part and prevent it from injuring the hand of a person when the umbrella or parasol is in use. A rib so constructed I believe to be entirely new. I

What I claim is 1. My improved manufacture of the runner or slider and top joint collar as made with its notched flange of drawn or rolled metal bent into a ring and constructed'in manner and applied thereto substantially as described. 1

I do not claim confining either the rib or the spreader of an umbrella frame to its grooved notched ring or flange of the slider or top ring by means of a circular wire, nor do I claim confining said wire in. place by each two joints of the spreaders or ribs but providing a smooth flange Without any projections likely to tear or injure the cloth cover of the umbrella.

" JAMES 'WILLIS.

, Witnesses:

Tnos. BROWN, J. MACINTOSH. 

